MUZAFFARNAGAR/LUCKNOW, AUGUST 7: A 20-year-old youth and his 18-year-old beloved, belonging to different castes, were hanged to death by their family members at Alinagar ka majra village in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, police said today.

District police chief B S Moriya said apparently annoyed with their affair, family members took the two lovers - Vishal and Sonu - to the roof of a house and hanged one after the other last night. The girl's parents and the boy's elder brother and sister-in-law were witnesses to the hanging, he said.

According to Moriya, Sonu and Vishal were warned earlier by their families that they would punished if they did not stop meeting each other. Sonu was a Jat while Vishal a Brahmin, the district police chief said adding the entire village was opposed to the affair. The police have arrested six persons including the parents of the boy and relatives of the girl besides a villager, Suarbhan, for aiding the family members in the crime. The police have suspended all the arms licenses in the village. PAC has been deployed in the village to prevent any further trouble.

Meanwhile, different versions are floating about the incident. One version said Sonu and Vishal had eloped on Monday night. The villagers launched a manhunt and caught them from the home of Kashi alias Kumhar. The crowd then decided to hang the two lovers. Another report said Sonu and Vishal decided to end their lives because they could not meet in living and their bodies were found in Kanda river which flows close to the village